SMB Partners Eyeing WebSphere Express

Rich Cohen, director of industry and midsize business marketing for WebSphere software at IBM, said the vendor has signed up about 1,200 partners in a WebSphere Express enablement program since the product became available in November. About 80 percent of those partners are solution providers or ISVs, he said.

Also, IBM recently unveiled an update to WebSphere Application Server Express version 5.0.1 that adds new capabilities for Web-based administration based on feedback from solution providers evaluating the product. "As [solution providers] turn over projects to customers, they need to make it as easy and transparent as possible for those customers to [manage] the solution," Cohen said.

Although WebSphere Express,IBM's line of products that compete with Microsoft in the SMB market,gives customers a choice for low-cost solutions, there still aren't a slew of customers lining up to buy the product, solution providers said.

"[Business momentum] is going to be slow and is going to be driven by the VARs who will bring in business," said Richard Gornitsky, president of Rigor Consultants, a solution provider in Livingston, N.Y. "Most small-business guys don't know much about technology. They just know they have a business problem and it needs to be solved," he said.

Gornitsky said Rigor Consultants has not yet used WebSphere Application Server Express in a customer implementation but does have one customer that is a likely candidate for the product.

"Previously with small businesses, I could only give them Microsoft [products] because of the complexity and the pricing issues with IBM software," Gornitsky said. "With WebSphere Express, I have the ability to provide them with a solution. There are really only two companies that people will risk investing in: IBM and Microsoft."